New Year, New Place

woke at 6am and got quickly packed up, in preparation for our morning flight. The Lodge was locked when we were ready at 6.45am so after a bit of hanging around the elderly gentleman who owns the Lodge appeared and let us in. We heard the siren, telling us that a plane had left Kathmandu, and as we are on the second flight out of Lukla we knew that we had time for a spot of breakfast…even if this is the slowest moving Lodge in Nepal! We ordered eggs ad French Toast…no bread…so that was quickly changed to omelettes instead.

After breakfast we hurriedly walked down to the airstrip to await our flight. It was literally two hundred metres from the Lodge and when we arrived it was clear that we wouldn’t be moving for a while. In true Nepali style, it emerged that the second flight that we were due to be on was suddenly going to have to collect supplies from another destination before arriving at Lukla. A series of good delivery flights would land before the second trekker transportation of the day…and as there were only two flights that day, I was a little nervous that it may never arrive. We learnt that before we flew out on the 22nd, no flights had left Kathmandu for Lukla for five days. And following our flight on the 22nd (by Helicopter) no flights left Lukla for a further eight days due to weather! So it was a miracle we made it to Lukla…and I wanted another miracle to get us back to Kathmandu today!

I need not have worried, about three hours later the plane turned up! Phew! By that point I was freezing cold but it was worth it. The flight lasted around half an hour and we were glad to touch down smoothly in Kathmandu. Paul collected receipts for our Helicopter flight whilst Q and I collected rucksacks and waited. We hopped in a little taxi and headed into Thamel, choosing to stay at the Kathmandu Guest House in their most basic rooms. So basic that they are not even on the price list! But they have a bed and light and a shared bathroom, what more does a girl need?!

Actually, a hot shower would have been nice but that wasn’t included. A cold shower was! After not showering for twelve days I was really looking forward to warmth and cleanliness but had to accept cold and cleanliness! After a shower and some relatively clean clothes, we went to Jesse James Bar for lunch…I had a fantastic Asian Chicken Salad washed down with lots of mineral water. We then mooched the streets of Thamel, buying a fabulous hand painting for our bedroom wall, a new little rug / mat for the dining table bench, a t-shirt that I am having embroidered with our accomplishments and then rested our weary shopping bodies in Himalaya Java for coffee, cheesecake and chocolate cake!

Not long after we were hitting the trekking shops…Marmot, North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Black Yak…just loving checking out all the cool kit and not spending a single penny! Miracle! We wandered through the streets looking for a present for Q’s girlfriend and then went to a tiny supermarket to buy beer, crisps and toiletries…now we are all satin our room, drinking and munching and the boys are reading their books. Later we will head out for dinner and then an early night. After all the exploits of the last ten days we will need a good night’s sleep in a normal(ish) bed!